Federal design matters

Nick Chaparos Bill Gelman

Federal

Design

Matters

Issue no. 4
July 1975

San Francisco

Escondido

S.865:

Revitalizing Federal Buildings

5.865, introduced on February 27, 1975,
is a bill “to promote more efficient use
of the nation's construction resources,
to foster the preservation of buildings

of historical architectural significance,
and to enhance the social and eco-
nomic environment within and surround-
ing Federal office buildings.”

The following are excerpts from
Senator Buckley's and Senator Baker’s
statements to the Senate introducing

5.865. (Senators Randolph and Morgan
are co-sponsors.)

Senator Buckley: A recent staff
report to the Federal Architectural Task
Force, established under the National
Endowment for the Arts, contained a
quotation that stated what I submit is the
basic problem:

An exchange of
information and
ideas related to
federal design

Chicago

Chicago

The very term “public building” has
become a contradiction: no one in his
right mind now goes into a public
building except on business.

This bill seeks to ameliorate that
situation, to bring the public back into
our public buildings. It seeks to breathe
new life into Federal buildings. And to
do it at less ultimate cost to the
taxpayers.

Section 3 amends the Public Build-
ings Act of 1959, encouraging the
Federal Government to purchase and
rejuvenate older buildings when that
proves practicable, and to convert those
buildings into new Federal office space.
Such an approach — an effort to recycle
what is worthy and well built in our
architectural heritage — would produce
many benefits.

It would save energy. The design of
older buildings is less extravagant in
energy use than most present buildings.
This revivalist approach would also save

National
Endowment
for the Arts

the consumption of energy needed to
tear down and replace the old build-
ing. And it would usually prove cheaper
than replacement construction. Since
renovation tends to be more labor-
intensive, per dollar invested, it would
mean jobs. Further, it is often work that
can be accomplished far more expedi-
tiously than wholesale demolition and
replacement.

Possibly most significant, renovation
projects would recapture some of the
beauty of the past, making our cities
more livable by fostering continuity and
progress in our cities.

The bill directs that GSA contract with
the National Trust for Historic Preserva-
tion for an inventory of possible local
renovation alternatives whenever GSA
initiates a survey of building needs.

But this is not an effort to pick an
occasional historic building and then
renovate it. I would anticipate the Trust
(Continued on page 5)

St. Louis

New York

Chicago

A designers checklist
of priorities:

Nancy Hanks speaks at
Design Focus 75

Last February, the U.S. Government
Printing Office sponsored a month-long
seminar for graphic designers under
the general theme, Design Focus '75.

At the concluding session, Nancy
Hanks, Chairman, National Endowment
for the Arts, spoke about the Federal
Design Improvement Program and the
priorities needed to achieve design
excellence. An excerpt from her speech,
"Federal Design Has a Future,” includ-
ing a designers checklist, follows:

Will Federal Design improve in the
future? My answer is: Absolutely! . . .

If . . .

If you — the designers in this room —
want good design, and create it, insist
on it and show the rest of us in govern-
ment the way. Then Federal design can
become truly splendid. I hope you
succeed.

Now please understand: I know you
don't always have the last word. When

1 talk about your responsibility as
designers, I don’t mean to let the
administrators off the hook. Administra-
tors must understand the designers’
role, their value and the nature of their
contributions. Administrators must give
you appropriate support, they must
offer incentives and rewards.

It’s clear they haven’t always done
that in the past — partly because Federal
designers haven’t always demanded or
earned that kind of respect. If design is
to improve, administrators must develop
a steadfast resolve that good design is
a good thing. In every agency, design
excellence must be the rule because it
improves the agency’s ability to
communicate whatever it has to say.

The message must filter down from
the top of all government departments.
But it must percolate up as well. The
message — of the importance of design
excellence — must come also from you
who are dedicated to the standards
of your profession.

Your individual futures and the future
of Federal design are inextricably
linked. The improvement of Federal
design hinges on your professional
development — on your attitudes,
standards and your goals.

To begin with, your very presence at
this seminar augurs well for you and

2

the Federal design effort. But of course
attending one seminar a year, no matter
how outstanding, doesn't make a
career. You must actively pursue other
avenues of learning such as courses,
lectures, workshops. To gain creative
insights and to grow professionally. To
keep your skills sharp and learn new
ones. Continuing education and training
are as necessary as they are enriching.
That is why they lead my checklist of
priorities.

Next on my list is self appraisal.

Now I've been around creative people
practically all my life and I know that
criticism, no matter how constructive,
can make many of them swallow hard.
That’s understandable because creative
people are sensitive people who give
so much of themselves to the work
they do. And sensitivity is a great
virtue ... but complacency is not.

Without criticism how can you get an
objective sense of your strengths and
weaknesses? How can you find out
what you should do to improve and
how to learn from your mistakes? You
need to know what others think, to find
out how you measure up. Is your work
in tune with the times? — With the best of
these times? Are your design solutions
innovative, practical and responsive?
Are your designs appropriate for the
intended purposes?

You must seek answers to these
questions from other professionals of
proven ability, from people you admire.
The answers could well redirect your
creative talents along even more con-
structive lines, raise your standards,
and thus contribute to the success of
Federal design.

Looking inward, you must compare
your work with your colleagues’ efforts,
and be as critical of your own as you
are of theirs. Looking outward, be
curious about your field. Seek out the
best people and the best work available.
Listen, study and learn.

I have found that the giants in your
field can be as generous as any when
it comes to helping others who may
have less experience. They are willing
— but nothing can happen unless they
are asked. That depends on you.

Go ahead, make the first move.

In all this, I cannot stress enough the
importance of becoming involved with
a professional society. It is a marvelous
way to interact with peers from outside
your office, even from outside
government.

In our working and personal lives,
there’s one word that describes the
extent of our progress and the time-
table for achievements. The word is
momentum. I consider professional
societies to be great generators of
momentum. I’ve always found a gather-
ing of designers a stimulating event.
Exciting things can happen — and
usually do — shop talk, displays, lec-
tures, experiments. The spin-off from
these activities can provide inspiring
grist for each designer to use and apply
in his own way.

As designers, you must understand
your agency’s overall goals and pro-
grams. But that's not enough. When you
are working on a particular assignment,
find out who it is for and what it is for.

On my checklist for designers I would
include research — on the subject and
the intended audience. Do your home-
work. It is the only way to ensure that
your efforts will be effective.

I believe we have every right to be
encouraged about the future of Federal
design. We have the momentum — and
Lord knows we have the subject matter
to create exciting things. But don't
forget that you hold the key to what
happens in the next few years, in the
next decade, and beyond.

Just to review: Federal design and
you are intertwined. For the success of
both, concentrate on the following
elements:

First Develop a balanced program of
education and continuing training. This
seminar is an excellent start.

Second Be critical of your own work.

Third Seek out the best people and the
best work. Learn from both.

Fourth Join a professional society. It
may provide you with much-needed
momentum.

Fifth Know about your audience.

It will make you a more effective
communicator.

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Produce Coordinated
New Graphics

Begin Implementing

Develop Coordinated
Design System

Hire Design Consultant;
Hire Full-Time Art Director;
or Other Actions

Seek Outside
Design Assistance

Efforts at In-House
Design Improvement

Evaluated but No
Program Implemented

Note: ICC, HEW, DOT, Selec-
tive Service — very recently— or
soon-to-be — evaluated. Agen-
cies not shown have, thus far,
not had their graphics evalu-
ated under the Federal Design
Improvement Program.

1

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Hire Experience:
Hire the Veteran

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Occupations

Labor Offices
in the United States
and Canada

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NASA

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Pilot project for Secretary
of Senate.

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Justice

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Washington DC 2046'
Contract No C -03-500 35-00

April 1975

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Bill Barnes Richard Nickel

Lost

S.865 Continued

and GSA would find opportunities for
renovation in many older, rundown
office buildings, warehouses, railway
stations, theaters, and so on. The pur-
pose would not be to preserve the
interior as originally constructed but to
convert the interior into modern offices,
saving as much of the basic structure as
proves to be wise.

This approach will prove both useful
and frugal. The object of a Federal
building policy is not to demolish and
build, demolish and build, because the
Tax Code encourages such an
approach in the private sector.

The object must be the spending of
the taxpayers’ money in the wisest and
most effective possible way.

And, I might add, any effort to utilize
older buildings may also have the salu-
tary effect of slowing the push toward
the consolidation of all Federal offices
in one giant concrete monolith per city.
We can reasonably question whether or
not the local Secret Service office must
be across the hall from the local Forest
Service office.

But as we try to utilize the past, we
must also seek to revitalize existing and
future Federal offices, to the benefit of
employees and visitors alike. Too often,

■

Ellis Island: Sinking

5

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Escondido Gets a Gil

Adapted

we surround the Federal employee with
an architectural moat. Fie has no place
to eat, except in the building cafeteria.
He has no place to shop, except pos-
sibly at a cigar stand. And the general
public— the people who paid for the
building — certainly has every reason to
shun the building, except when forced
there on business between 9 and 5.

We must open up our Federal build-
ings, encouraging public use of what
they have paid for. The recent staff
report to the Federal Architectural Task
Force sought to “encourage a more
lively pedestrian setting in and around
these buildings.” The report went on to
urge that “multiuse” be “not just
allowed but vigorously promoted.”

Section 4 of the bill, in amending
section 210 of the Federal Property and
Administrative Services Act of 1949,
would permit such multiuse or coopera-
tive use. This section would grant GSA
authority to lease ground-floor space of

Chicago: New Stale Center?

San Francisco Mint '06 ... . '75

Federal office buildings for “commer-
cial, cultural, educational, or recrea-
tional” uses.

Such a broadened horizon in usage
should also prove to be a substantial
cost-saver for the taxpayers. The most
valuable space in most office buildings
is the space on the ground floor: the
bill would make it available at com-
mercial rates.

The purpose, of course, is not to
make GSA the Nation’s landlord. Co-
operative use is a limited tool. I would
not expect it to work everywhere. And
it should only be tried where local gov-
ernments agree. But it is a policy that
should have the ancillary benefit of
enhancing employee morale and
efficiency.

Senator Baker: As one of 13 mem-
bers of the task force that is working
with Executive Director Bill Lacy to
study the guiding principles for Federal
architecture, I have had the opportunity
to weigh the options that may be avail-
able through programs for cooperative
and adaptive use. I support fully the
intent of this bill. We must work to make
the Federal Government a better
neighbor in every city. We must bring
the public back to our “public”
buildings.

Aspen Conference:

Dimensions of Experience

The main theme for this year’s pro-
gram was “Dimensions of Experience:
Ways to Measure Human Experience in
the Designed World.’’ Niels Diffrient of
Henry Dreyfuss Associates set the pro-
gram soaring with the proposition that
“design should improve experiences
for people.”

Program highlights are presented in
an attractively designed publication,
Dimensions of Experience, Design
Quarterly 96. Price: $1 .60. Quantity dis-
counts. Write to Mildred Friedman,
Editor, Walker Art Center, Vineland
Place, Minneapolis, Minn.

Top professionals ready
to assess graphic portfolios

The Civil Service Commission is
logging in more than 2,000 applications
for Federal employment as Graphic
Designers, Illustrators, and Photog-
raphers in grades GS-5 through GS-12.
The deadline for the applications was
June 20.

Top professionals from many parts of
the United States will meet in Washing-
ton from mid-July to mid-August to
evaluate the applicants’ portfolios.

Acknowledg merits

Chairman, National Endowment tor the Arts:
Nancy Hanks

Coordinator, Design Information: Nick Chaparos
Editorial Supervision: Lani Lattin, Peter Smith
Design Production: Sparkman and Bartholomew
Associates, Inc.

Notice: Use of funds for printing this publication
approved by the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget on October 5, 1973.

National Postage and Fees Paid

_ , National Foundation on the Arts

endowment and the Humanities

for the Arts
Washington, D.C.

20506 '

Official Business

THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON

June 26, 1975

As preparations advance for the first Federal Regional
Design Assembly, to be held October 30-31, 1975 in
Denver, Colorado, I reaffirm my support for this endeavor,
I am confident that this regional meeting will help Federal
and State government officials understand more clearly
the significance of design as an element of good manage-
ment.

The Design Assemblies have been a significant part of
the Federal Design Program since they were initiated by
the White House three years ago. The Design Program
has made important contributions to Federal architecture,
to visual communications, and to the recruitment of
design professionals to Government service.

It is heartening that last year, Colorado and Ohio sponsored
their own State Design Assemblies, modeled after the
Federal Design Assembly Program, and that this year five
more states will be holding State Assemblies.

As the largest users of design services. Federal and State
government agencies influence design excellence throughout
the nation, and encourage high standards of design quality
in public buildings, office interiors, and visual communi-
cations.

It is my strong expectation that the Federal Regional
Design Assembly will be a professional means to greater
achievement, and it has my full support.

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